Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley of Illinois criticized the Trump administration's response to a preliminary intelligence assessment that suggested U.S. strikes made a limited impact on Iran's nuclear program.
"The fact that the president's ego may be dinged by the fact that his initial statements weren't correct, it really doesn't matter. You've got to put your ego in your pocket," Quigley, who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, told Morning Edition.
"You have to face the threats as they exist, not as the president's ego maintains," he added.
An early, classified intelligence assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency indicates U.S. strikes did not "obliterate" Iran's nuclear enrichment program as President Trump claimed. Instead the strike did "limited" damage and set the program back "a few months," a U.S. official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, confirmed with NPR on Tuesday.
The Trump administration disputes that claim.
"The leaking of this alleged assessment is a clear attempt to demean President Trump," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. "Everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000 pound bombs perfectly on their targets: total obliteration."
Israel's goal is to stop Iran's nuclear program from further advancement, and prevent it from the ability to make a nuclear weapon, which is a long-shared goal with the United States.
Democrats were upset after the White House postponed a Tuesday night briefing about the U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear program. A briefing is now scheduled to take place Wednesday evening for the Senate and on Friday for members of the House.
Quigley spoke with NPR's Michel Martin about the ceasefire, postponed briefings and the state of Iran's nuclear infrastructure.
The following excerpt has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
Michel Martin: Do you have any initial questions or comments?
Rep. Mike Quigley: I think they have to own up to the fact that the truth matters. Just the fact that the president's ego may be dinged by the fact that his initial statements weren't correct, it really doesn't matter. You've got to put your ego in your pocket. You have to face the threats as they exist, not as the president's ego maintains.
Martin: Do you have any visible visibility yourself into the extent of the damage done to Iran's nuclear capabilities?
Quigley: These strikes are very difficult to evaluate, especially in a denied area. It takes time. These are difficult, hard targets. They are mobile targets. To say they were "obliterated" before any analysis is fanciful and frankly dangerous. And the [International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' watchdog group] also [...] said there's probably 30 sites. So, what I tried to do was just to make this bipartisan and honest.
Chairman [Michael McCaul, R-Texas] said, 'I've been briefed on this plan in the past and it was never meant to completely destroy the facilities, but rather cause significant damage. It was always known to be a temporary setback.' Well, I'll add to that. I've been briefed on this many, many times, this kind of plan — on an unclassified basis as well. It was also clear that you were never going to end this program unless you have troops on the ground, and that means a war. So by abandoning diplomacy and the fact that Iran was in compliance before, the president has in fact made the situation more dangerous.
Martin: Why do you think there's such a discrepancy between the administration's version of events and those of the intelligence community? And was that the administration's objective to obliterate the nuclear program? It sounds to me like you're saying, from what you understand, that that just would never have been the case.
Quigley: You cannot obliterate the program with simple missile strikes. And that's what we have acknowledged all along. So what we're facing here is a president — and why we're in this situation — he refuses to ever admit that he's wrong. He wants to be able to say, 'This is all over and let's move on.' It's not that neat.
Martin: So what would you like to see? What does the U.S. need to do now, in your opinion?
Quigley: Iran is in a weakened state, as are their proxies. Now's the time to push again for diplomacy. It's the only thing that's ever worked. It's the only thing that will work.
Destinee Adams wrote and produced the digital piece and Treye Green edited it.
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